The San Diego County Water Authority has turned frustration with the Metropolitan Water District into a full-fledged public relations campaign in hopes of avoiding more regional rate increases set for a vote next week.

In letters, news releases and a just-launched website, water authority officials said they will divulge “the truth” about MWD. By their accounts, the Los Angeles-based water provider is a modern-day “Chinatown,” full of shady dealings designed to avoid public scrutiny and maintain its empire.

While the two agencies have a long history of spats in and out of court, the current offensive by San Diego leaders targets Metropolitan’s plans to raise wholesale water rates by an average of 7.5 percent in 2013 and 5 percent in 2014. It already has increased prices by 75 percent over the past six years, according to county water officials.

The San Diego officials are chartering a bus to Los Angeles on Monday so they can protest the proposed prices and what they see as a systematic attempt by some Los Angeles-area water agencies to undermine their credibility.

Mark Watton, general manager of the Otay Water District in Spring Valley, said the local delegation will call for Metropolitan to delay voting on rates and make budget cuts given a sharp decrease in water sales.

“We want to right-size Met,” Watton said.

John Foley, chairman of the Metropolitan board, issued a statement Thursday that said that his agency is committed to transparent public discussions to make sure that all of Southern California’s needs are addressed.

“It is regrettable that San Diego County Water Authority is using ratepayer money to engage in political gamesmanship and questionable tactics outside of the deliberative process where all member agencies attempt to work collaboratively to resolve differences,” he said.

In recent months, Metropolitan leaders have defended the integrity of their rate-setting process and disputed many of the water authority’s claims. The water authority sued Metropolitan in 2010 for allegedly setting rates so that San Diegans subsidize other Southern California ratepayers. There’s been no ruling on the substance of the case, which could be worth billions of dollars in coming decades.

The San Diego water authority has launched a new website — MWDFacts.com — “to provide greater information and transparency into the powerful and secretive Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.”

Metropolitan serves 19 million people in six counties by importing water from Northern California and the Colorado River. It is the largest supplier for the San Diego County Water Authority, which has been trying for years to reduce its reliance on MWD. The Southern California supplier is run by a 37-member regional board that has left the four San Diego members feeling outnumbered.

In a statement on its website, Metropolitan said its proposed annual budgets of nearly $2 billion allow it “to meet key priorities while keeping proposed rates as low as possible.”

Spending over the next two years is expected to include more than $550 million of investments in infrastructure, along with funding for conservation programs and incentives for water recycling projects. Prices also are set to increase Metropolitan’s fiscal reserves.

Metropolitan is considering the 2013 and 2014 rates at a committee hearing on Monday in Los Angeles and the issue is on the full board agenda for Tuesday.

Representing those local agencies, the county water authority complained to Metropolitan this week that the Los Angeles agency did not provide enough public notice about next week’s rate decision.

“Metropolitan’s highly irregular, headlong rush to adopt another two years of water rate increases serves no apparent purpose other than to shorten the time for public review and comment,” said Monday’s letter, signed by four county water authority representatives to Metropolitan’s board.

The letter noted that Metropolitan’s sales had fallen sharply in recent years.

“The (MWD) board has taken no meaningful actions, in terms of programs or staffing, to reduce the expense side of the budget to reflect this dramatic reduction in MWD sales,” San Diego representatives said in February.

Metropolitan said that it has reduced its staff by more than 160 positions in the past three years.

In a related development, water authority officials said Thursday that they have uncovered a plan to disgrace them. Local leaders suspect Metropolitan used an intermediary to pay for a $50,000 analysis of San Diego’s water costs by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

A subcontractor who helped with the report was Steve Erie, a professor at UC San Diego. The county water authority, led by General Manager Maureen Stapleton, said Erie has been a paid consultant for Metropolitan in past litigation against the water authority and questions whether he is unbiased.

The Western Municipal Water District, a member of Metropolitan that serves part of Riverside County, requested the study. Several agencies, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Municipal Water District of Orange County, wound up commissioning the analysis.

“We were simply looking for a factual presentation of the cost components of the water transfer” from the Imperial Irrigation District to the San Diego County Water Authority, said a statement by Western Municipal’s General Manager John Rossi. He said part of the goal was to determine whether SDCWA was trying to shift “a significant portion” of its transfer-related costs onto Metropolitan agencies.

Colin Maynard, a spokesman for the economic development council, said the report is being finalized by an internal economist before it’s formally delivered to Western Municipal.

Erie expressed irritation over the water authority’s charges. He said his contract was with the economic development agency and he didn’t know that Western Municipal was a sponsor. Erie also said much of the work was done by others.

“Maureen Stapleton has been saying for years I have been a secret consultant for MWD,” Erie said, something he denies.

Watton is doubtful it’s all aboveboard.

“Metropolitan, through some of its member agencies and consultants, I believe conspired to have this study done to give it some distance from them and put on a stamp of a disinterested third party,” Watton said.

The study includes a comparison of rate increases by the water authority to those by Metropolitan over 10 years. The bottom line, according to the report, is that San Diego County water users pay more and absorbed quicker cost increases because local leaders have purchased relatively expensive water from the Imperial Irrigation District.

Stapleton on Thursday sent a letter to the economic development corporation asking it to terminate what she called an “incomplete and inaccurate” assessment or submit it to “objective and credible” economists for review.

Home buyers have it drilled into their heads that they need to get a home inspection. In California, for example, real estate agents advise home buyers to do a home inspection 15 ways from Sunday. Our purchase contracts contain two pages that talk about doing a home inspection, and those two pages are repeated in the buyer’s broker agreement. That’s just for starters.
A home buyer does not close escrow without hearing about the need for a home inspection. But what does a home inspection report disclose? Home buyers are often clueless about home construction and its components, and have difficulty deciphering home inspection reports. Many don’t know how to figure out which types of defects are serious or whether their home inspector checked all the essentials. But, by George, they got that home inspection!

Home Inspection Checklist Comparisons

All home inspections are different and can vary dramatically from state to state, as well as across counties and cities. Much depends on the home inspector and which association, if any, to which the home inspector belongs. Because I am most familiar with home inspections conducted in accordance with the standards of practice established by the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, the following information is based on NACHI guidelines.

Home Inspection Checklist of Items Not Inspected
Understand that California home inspectors are not licensed, nor are they licensed in many states. However, a home inspector’s standard practice typically does not include the following, for which a specific license to inspect and identify is required:

Home Inspection Checklist Items Needing Service
Home inspection reports do not describe the condition of every component if it’s in excellent shape, but should note every item that is defective or needing service. The serious problems are:

Home Inspection Checklist Items Sellers Should Fix
If you have a choice, it is smarter to hire your own contractors and supervise repairs. Before issuing a formal request to repair, consider the seller’s incentive to hire the cheapest contractor and to replace appliances with the least expensive brands.

Although home inspectors are reluctant to and, in many cases, refuse to disclose repair costs, call a contractor to determine the scope and expense to fix minor problems yourself. No home is perfect. Every home will have issues on a home inspection. Even new homes.

A repair issue that will be be a deal breaker for a first-time home buyer, causing the buyer to cancel the contract, will not faze a home buyer versed in home repair. Talk to your agent, family, friends and call a few contractors to discuss which types of defects are minor. Perhaps a simple solution is available such as replacing a $1.99 receptacle, which can resolve many outlet problems.

Pat yourself on the back, too, for getting a home inspection. Some buyers feel a home inspection is unnecessary, especially if they are buying new construction. If a light switch doesn’t work or the air conditioner blows out hot air, those are problems you can see and test. The problems that aren’t readily identifiable to you such as code violations, a furnace that leaks carbon monoxide or a failing chimney, are the types of defects a home inspector could identify in a new home. Builders’ contractors make mistakes, too.